Yuma CASA Program July 2013 Volume 4 Issue 7 In This Issue: Page Coordinator's 1 Comments Swearing-In Ceremony 2 Speak Out Highlight AZ CASA Staff 3 Training Opportunity - 4 Elizabeth Brown Thanks to Liz Clark - 4 Cut-A-Thon AZ State Statute - Termination of Parental 5 Happy 4th of July Volunteers Rights Amberly's Place 7 Summer is here and it is going to be a hot one. Make sure you are drinking Statistics plenty of fluids when out in the heat. Amberly's Place Report 8 June H.U.G. Photos 9 This month’s H.U.G. is going to a good one. Elizabeth Brown is currently an attorney working dependency cases here in Yuma. She also was the Assistant Judy Newman Goodbye 10 Attorney General before Erin Farrar became the AAG. Elizabeth will be doing a June CASA Lunch Photos 11 presentation on the termination of parental rights. Elizabeth has been the AAG on several severance trials and we are lucky that she has agreed to come share Movie Review 12 her knowledge and experience with us at our July H.U.G. CASA Anniversaries 12 We had one volunteer attend the June CASA academy in Tucson. Right now it Book Reviews 13 looks like we have about four volunteers that will be attending the July CASA academy in Phoenix. We are getting close to having 50 volunteers and counting. July Calendar 14 That means we are going to need some more veteran volunteers to step up and mentor some of our new volunteers. The state office has assured me they are Contact Info 14 very close to having the statewide mentor program ready to roll out sometime this summer. The Case Review Team has decided to have our next CASA case reviews in the first week of August. If any volunteers have a case you would like reviewed please contact the CASA office so we can add your case to the August case review schedule. There is also a case review form you will need to complete to provide the review team with details of your case listing your concerns and issues you would like the team to address at the review so the team can make AZ CASA Website recommendations. Newsletter Committee Our first Best for Babies Court Team Meeting will be meeting on a monthly basis working towards establishing a program here in Yuma. It will take some time Editors - Susan/Cindi and a lot of work to get the program established. Each meeting we will be Design/Layout – Ruth/Stephen addressing a different topic or issue in Yuma the team all has mutual concerns July 2013 Page 1 about. I truly believe the B4B team besides establishing a B4B program will be able to accomplish a lot along the way by bringing everyone in Yuma together to fix some of the flaws in the foster care system by taking on one problem or issue at a time. Another exciting project on the horizon is establishing a mentor program for the teenagers that are getting close to aging out of the system. We all have heard the statistics of what happens to the foster children that age out of the system so I do not need to mention them. I have spoken with both judges and a few of the CASA volunteers that have a special place in their heart for the teens and they are eager to get a program started. I will be reaching out to the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma regarding getting some of the Marines involved as mentors in the program. I have been contacted several times by Marine officers wanting to do something to make a difference in a foster child’s life. Stay tuned for more info to come or come see me. A few volunteers have mentioned that they would like a digital format to reach out to other volunteers to ask questions, get advice and feedback, vent, and just chat about the day to day stuff related to CASA. We have a CASA of Yuma County Facebook account and someone suggested a chat room using our Facebook page. After speaking with our computer tech person, Rand Rosenbaum, he suggested that we have a discussion board that will be a separate link that you can log onto with a username & password and it would be more secure. Rand is working on it and as soon as he is finished we will send out an e-mail with directions. You will be able to link to the discussion board through our Facebook page. It seems I have not seen or spoken to quite a few of you lately. Please remember that I am always here if you need to speak with me. Just call me or Veronica if you need an appointment or you can always call me after work hours on my cell at 928-247-4300. Keep up the good fight. The children need us now more than ever. Yuma County is blessed to have the best CASA volunteers in the world. --Dennis Swearing-In Ceremony of New CASAs June 21, 2013 Congratulations to our new CASAs who were sworn in today. July 2013 Page 2 Welcome To Highlight The A CASA CASA Family Darrell Fischer I started out by working for the Boeing company for 17 years. I was hired in Research and Development, however, the last 8 were spent as an Assembly and Checkout Technician on Minute Man Missiles. After that I owned a restaurant for 5 years. Finally I retired from Sierra Pacific Power Company in Reno NV as Scrubber Foreman in a coal fired power plant. After retirement I became involved in real estate sales for 9 years. During this time I started volunteering. First as a volunteer Deputy Sheriff for 5 years. When I gave that up, I became involved in volunteering through the County Attorney’s Office and their Community Justice Board Program. I sat on two boards in that program for about 5 years now. I recently decided to give up one board and became involved with CASA. Thus far CASA seems to be the most rewarding to me. Sandy Magdaleno I was born in Fort Campbell, KY, but lived in Yuma the majority of my life and graduated from Kofa High School. I have been married to Jarrett for 42 years and have two children: Jessica and Jarrett Jr. I worked as a Medical Office Manager for over 26 years; and as an office manager for my church where I became involved in Children's Ministry. I left Yuma to care for a newborn grandchild and then my ailing in-laws, returning to Yuma a year later. I am now a very proud grandmother of 5 beautiful grandchildren. I was introduced to the CASA program at my church by a special person; without hesitation I volunteered. I feel this is a wonderful and rewarding way to serve Christ and our community. July 2013 Page 3 TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES-- Increase your knowledge th Elizabeth Brown Attend the H.U.G. meeting on Thursday, July 11 , at 11:30, Detention Training Room. Bring your lunch. The speaker will be Elizabeth Brown Termination of Parental Rights Elizabeth M. Brown is a former Arizona Assistant Attorney General in private practice with cases ranging from civil, criminal and appellate work to representing foster parents adopting children in CPS care. She has extensive international professional experience working with international diplomatic organizations and supporting major humanitarian efforts around the world. She is a native of upstate New York and has lived in Arizona since the late 1990s. She has three children, speaks Russian, plays the piano, and is a Master Gardener. Thanks to Liz Clark and her stylists of Hairography for hosting a Cut-A-Thon on June 3rd and donating all profits to the CASA Board. Their support of the CASA Program is appreciated. July 2013 Page 4 ARIZONA STATUTE SUMMARY Termination of Parental Rights At the bottom of the following summary you will find a link that will take you to the Arizona state code website. The citations in the summary will aid in your search for the full text of the relevant provisions on the state code website. Involuntary--During permanency proceedings, if the court determines the child's best interests lie in the termination of parental rights, it shall: • order a motion to terminate these rights be filed within 10 days of the permanency hearing; • set an initial hearing date on the motion within 90 days of the permanency hearing. A trial date shall be set at the permanency hearing if the termination is contested. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 8-862(D). Notice Rights--The termination motion must be served at least 10 days before the hearing on all parties specified by the rules of civil procedure, including any persons who have filed adoption petitions or have physical custody pursuant to a foster-adoptive placement. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 8-863(A). Grounds--Termination of parental rights may be based on any of the following factors, in consideration with the child's best interests: • the parent has abandoned the child; • the parent has neglected or willfully abused a child, including serious physical or emotional injury or situations where the parent knew or reasonably should have known a child was being abused or neglected; • the parent could not satisfy his/her responsibilities because of mental illness or deficiency or a history of chronic drug or alcohol abuse and there are reasonable grounds to believe this behavior will continue; • the parent is incarcerated due to a felony conviction and the child will be deprived of a normal home for a period of years; • the potential father failed to file a paternity action as required by statute; • the putative father failed to file a notice of claim of paternity pursuant to Ariz.